Walking with Jesus: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-14, 18; Mark 13:24-32

We’ve travelled this way before. It is not new ground for us. Next week we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the Church year, and on Nov. 28, we begin our celebration of Advent for the Birth of our Savior. This week's readings are apocalyptical: the type of literature that contains mysterious revelations usually hidden in symbolic language. The subject matter of an apocalypse deals with the heavenly world and the future, especially the final judgment. This can be studied in The Judgment of the Nations found in Matthew 26:31-46. Other Biblical examples are found in chapters 7 through 12 of Daniel and in the Book of Revelation. This topic, the end of the world, generates many questions while unusual signs abound. Jesus says, “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory …” [Mark 13:24-25]

Questions come in machine gun fashion: when will this happen … will it be filled with silence … will God bring final judgment on all people … if God is a God of love, how come all these happenings are harsh, judgmental with God seemingly aloof? Could we be wiped out by war … or famine … or disease? Daniel speaks of a “… time unsurpassed in distress.” [Daniel 12:1]

Most important and most worrisome, Jesus says, “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” [Mark 13:32] This is scary stuff. Is it true? Is it made up to frighten us? How can we understand these readings? I would suggest we examine our lives and see where we feel individually. Should we be doing some “changing?” So many people, including me, need to do some housecleaning within our own lives. I have some changes that I’ve been meaning to do and just have not gotten around to doing them. Pope St. John XXIII said it very simply during a reflection from a retreat when he was 78, the second year of his papacy: “It’s time that I should simply my life.” He died three years later, in 1963, and was canonized on April 27, 2014, by Pope Francis.

With Advent coming, we have the opportunity to look at our lives, correct our course and move forward toward the light of God. Jesus became one of us to save us and lead us all to heaven. Do I look at how I have grown in faith this past year? Will I let go of practices that no longer benefit me and take a new, life-giving approach to God?

Many powerful events have happened: A pandemic came without warning … flash floods tore down buildings and homes. We hear that we should live in the moment and be present to the voice of God. Every moment spent with another person offers an opportunity to experience the love of God present in our lives and in the world’s. God’s love is continually being made present throughout creation. Am I listening? Am I aware? Do I hear God? We look to the readings:

Although Daniel serves in the court of great and powerful kings, his only interest is to serve the God of heaven faithfully. Beginning with the seventh chapter of his book, Daniel has visions about the challenges his people will have to face in the future. But most importantly he receives assurances that God will protect His people from harm. Jesus tells us the same thing repeatedly: God loves you … I love you … live in My love. Know I am with you always till the end.

The author of Hebrews states that every priest stands daily in his ministry offering sacrifices. These sacrifices are good for our faith … for our understanding of God’s love … to be insistent of God’s care, forgiveness, mercy and protection. BUT these sacrifices can never take away sins. Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins, giving of His total life for everyone. Christ’s sacrifice makes possible not only the forgiveness of sins but our actual salvation, which we could never do for ourselves. Only God can, and God loves us that much.

Mark’s 13th chapter about the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D. is the most difficult to understand. God’s Messiah will defeat the evil that currently inhabits and corrupts the world. History and the world as we know them will come to an end. A new era is beginning. God’s eternal plan has come to fruition. You and I are a part of that plan. We must learn to be awake to the presence of God in every moment. God is with us, helping us be love to those we encounter. This requires the focus of our minds and hearts on the one thing that matters: the love of God made present throughout creation.

So I reflect on:

• Has my perspective about the end times changed in the last five years? Have recent tribulations and calamities altered my perception of God?
• How do I recognize the Divine in this 21st century?
  

Sacred Space 2021 states:

“It is good to find something in life that cannot pass away. We want that — we want it in love, in our friendships, and in our trusting in the future. The word of God spoken in love, always a light in life, will never pass away. By prayer we insert ourselves into the reality of that word and that love.”